Apparatus for heating automobiles.



G. RUFPIER.

APPARATUS TOR HEATING AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 17,

Patented Oct. 22, 1912.

/ z/ ,l f//f/ GASTON RUFFIEB, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

APPARATUS FOR HEATING AUTOMOBILES.

Specification of Letters Patent'.

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Application filed March 17,' 1909. Serial No. 4833929.

To alt whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GASTON RUFFIER, a citizen of the Republic of France, residing at No. QS lVest Twentieth street, in the city, county.l and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for 'Heating Automobiles, of which the following is a full, true, and concise specification.

This invention is a heater or foot-warmer` for automobiles, of the type wherein the exhaust gases of the propelling engine are utilized as the source of heat, and the invention resides in the combination, relative disposition and construction of the heater and its supply connections,^whereby the exhaust gases are used before they are cooled by exl pansion or radiation and without disturb- 'ing the effective operation of the engine, and

whereby certain other advantages, hereinaft-er explained, or made apparent, are obtained.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure l represents in side elevation a form of heating apparatus constructed according to my invention, together with so much of the ordinary automobile exhaust pipe as will be necessary to indicate the principle and operation thereof; Figs. 2 and 3 are respectively horizontal and vertical sections through the heater on an enlarged scale; Figs. 4 and 5 are enlarged sectional details of the controlling valve mechanism indicating two extreme adjustments thereof; Figs. 6 and 7 are cross-sections of a form of heater of this invention more specially adapted for use. with open automobile bodies.

Referring to Fig. l, the exhaust ports of the propelling engines of the automobile are marked l, and the exhaust pipe which conducts the gases from said ports to the rear of the vehicle, underneath the :door 3 thereof, in the usual'manner, is marked 2. The heater 4 is located within the automobile body preferably upon the floor 3, and consists of any suitable construction which will provide a free but tortuous passage for the hot gases. The heater is preferably formed as a flat coil of piping and is contained within a casing 5 and embedded in a body of ireproof heat-conducting material 6 thereir., such as sand or cement.' The inlet 'connection of the coil, marked 4a, is connected through a two-way valve mechanism 7 with a pipe 8, through which the gases for the heater are derived from the engine.

parallel relation to the main exhaust pipe,

and is so arranged that the heat from said pipe, or the gases therein, will serve to heat the exterior of the supply pipe. Preferably the supply pipe is contained within the exhaust pipe and is completely' surrounded and insulated by the gases therein. The said pipe extends well forward within the exhaust pipe and preferably into close proximity to thev exhaust ports l, so that the exhaust gases it receives are taken while they are hottest. The length of the supply pi e 8 that is Within the exhaust pipe will be dietermined by the distance from the engine at which the heater is installed, and by the degree of heat required, as will also the relative diameters of the two pipes which may advantageously be as l to 3 for the ordinary exhaust pipe.

The two-way valve mechanism Z shown more clearly in Figs. 4 and 5, is of-tliefsli-de`* valve type, and comprises a hollow sliding valve member 9, operable by means of a vertical rod and "handle 9d which extends iup? wardly through the ioor of the car atone side of the heater, and is held in an adjustable position by means of the friction of the slide-valve, or by any other suitable agency.

In its position shown in Fig. 5, the hot gases from the supply pipe S are directed into the inlet `4El of the heater coil, and, inthe adjustment of Fig. 4, they are directed intoa lateral port or passage l() which leads rearwardly, joining the main exhaust pipe, in the nature of a by-pass with respect to the heater. 'Intermediate positions of adjustment will allow the gas to divide, part passing through the heater and its outlet 4b, and part through the by-pass l0, thereby providing regulation of the temperature of the heater, but in either-extreme adjustment, and in all intermediate adjustments of the valve, a continuously open passage is provided for the escape of the exhaust gases, so that the presence of the supply pipe within the exhaust pipe does not constitute an appreciable obstruction to the normal tlow of gases therein, nor a-Hect the operation or efhciency of the engine. The heater outlet 4b may extend to the rear of the car, providing escape for the discharged gases at about the same point where the main exhaust passage terminates. The forward end of the-interior gas supply pipe opens toward the exhaust ports of the engine, so

that the expansive movement of the exhaustgas Will serve to propel it into and through the pipe While the heat o such gases will be conserved by the surrounding or adjacentl layer of gases in the main exhaust pipe.

In Figs. 6 and 7 the heater consisting'of a flat coil of pipe embedded ina block of concrete -or similar material, is provided with a removable heat-insulating covering llof carpet or the like, this being ilexibly connected at the side of the heater so as to fall over .and cover the same when not in use, but allowing the occupant of the car to thrust his4 feet underneath it and upon the heater. At such times as the engine is not running, and the car not occupied, the heat insulating covering serves to maintain the temperature of the heater so that it willvbe immediately available for further use.

I claim as my invention the following:

1. The combination with an internal com.a bustion propelling engine of a self-impelled conveyance, having one or more exhaust ports and a main exhaust pipe leading therefrom, of a gas conducting heater, a gas-supply pipe adapted to receive and conduct a maaar@ portionl of the exhaust gases to said heater,

constituting another of said connections, and

a controllingvalve operative to' deiieet all the gas supplied by said pipe into one or the other or both of the said connections.`

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to the specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

l GASTON RUFFIER.' Witnesses H. G. KIMBALL, CLIFFORD H. KLos. 

